


'tis the damn season

by littlemisfit5290



Category: Homeland
Genre: Alcohol, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Estrangement, F/M, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Post-Canon, Post-Season/Series 08 Finale, Stars
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:03:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28307223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlemisfit5290/pseuds/littlemisfit5290
Summary: Carrie's struggling to cope during her first Christmas in Russia. Yevgeny does his best to help.
Relationships: Frannie Mathison & Carrie Mathison, Nicholas Brody/Carrie Mathison, Yevgeny Gromov & Carrie Mathison, Yevgeny Gromov/Carrie Mathison
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The fic title is from a Taylor Swift song. The fic itself, from a weird part of my brain that's compelled to write angsty Homeland stories around Christmas. :( Also, any Carrie/Yevgeny shippers, please forgive me here as writing them is a bit outside my area of expertise.

She hadn't wanted to leave the apartment tonight. She hadn't since Thanksgiving, but December had served to amplify her feelings. As Christmas approached, so did her desire to not get out of bed.

To his credit, Yevgeny picked up on the holidays being difficult for her and refrained from trying to cook them a turkey or put up a tree. Feeling like she owed him for that, Carrie agreed to an evening walk around the city center.

"The first December snow in Moscow. It is magical. And I am not one to use that word lightly," Yevgeny said, slipping an arm around her shoulders. Carrie forced a smile on her face, managed a nod as they walked by some storefronts.

They stopped in front of a jeweler's window, with a gaudy display of white lights and pieces so ornate they almost resembled costume jewelry.

"Normally it is not so…"

"Overdone?" Carrie asked with a snort.

Laughing, Yevgeny nodded as Carrie's eyes locked on a necklace in the center of the display. A fine gold chain holding a small diamond star.

"That is charming. Simple but classic. It catches your eye."

"You moonlighting as their salesman or something?" Carrie snorted, but still hadn't looked away from the necklace.

"I have been with you long enough to know that a standard sales pitch would never work on you," Yevgeny said. Moving to stand behind her he curled one arm around her waist. Rested his chin on her shoulder.

"No?" Carrie asked, as playfully as she could despite the lump forming in the back of her throat.

"No, of course not. For you, I would go above and beyond. Let you take the piece from the case. Put it on."

His voice was a purr in her ear as he moved her hair away from her neck, brushed his lips there. If it were any other moment, it would've made her melt.

Breaking free of his hold Carrie shook her head, wrapped her arms around herself protectively.

"Carrie…" Yevgeny sighed, his frustration giving way to concern at how small she looked in that moment. The way she still couldn't stop staring at that star.

"I'm fine. Just tired. I'm fucking freezing, too."

Putting his arm around her shoulder again, Yevgeny kissed the top of her head.

"We will go home then. Get warm."

When she nodded, leaned more against him but didn't move her feet he stayed in place, stroked her hair.

"You know, while I am not an official salesperson looking to earn a commission, I still believe I can get you that necklace in time for Christmas."

"No, Yevgeny-"

"Possibly persuade the owner to sell me the exact piece you're staring at."

"I said no, alright!" Carrie snapped, breaking free of his hold again.

"Jesus, I thought we had an agreement. No gifts, no celebrating."

"Yes. The unspoken agreement. The most unspoken agreement we could agree to. Any verbalization of it at all, strictly forbidden," Yevgeny mocked as her eyes iced over.

"It's a kid's holiday. What the fuck is there to talk about."

Pulling her coat tighter around her she turned on her heel, started walking away.

"Carrie. Carrie!"

Breaking into a jog, Yevgeny caught up to her as she stepped out into the street, tried to flag down a cab.

"I can have a driver here in two minutes. Can you just-"

"I don't want to wait two fucking minutes, I….fuck!" she swore, in English followed by some Russian when the cab didn't stop.

"Carrie, please. This is ridiculous."

"Well just walk away then! You won't have to watch."

Calling her bluff, thinking some distance between them wouldn't hurt right now, Yevgeny rolled his eyes. Turned and started walking in the direction of a nearby liquor store just as she managed to hail a new cab.

Glancing back over his shoulder, Yevgeny watched closely as she got in. After making sure she wasn't bothered, that it drove in the direction of their apartment without issue he resumed his stroll. Making a mental note of the name of the jewelry store before stopping off for some needed supplies.

…

When he arrived back at the apartment, he realized he was right to stop off and restock the liquor cabinet. The living room was dark aside from the light over the top of the bar, and a brown bottle was missing from the glass shelf.

"Carrie?"

He heard Miles Davis echoing from her phone and opening the bedroom door, saw her curled up in the corner arm chair.

Shaking his head sadly, Yevgeny approached and sat on the floor between her chair and the bed.

"About time you joined the party," Carrie murmured as he took the fifth of vodka from the plastic bag. Uncapping it he raised it in her direction, took a sip.

" _Za_ _tvajo zdarovje,"_ he said solemnly as she nodded, took another swig straight from the bottle of Maker's Mark.

"I don't want to talk," she choked out as he nodded in understanding. Shifting closer to her chair he reached for, gently squeezed her free hand.

"When you want to talk, to laugh, you drink tequila. _We_ drink tequila. Until I get tired of the tequila and switch us to vodka, knowing so long as whatever's in your glass is clear, you won't give a shit."

Earning a trace of a smile that somewhat met her eyes, Yevgeny swallowed hard, braced for it to fade.

"Tonight though, straight bourbon. I also know what that means."

Her eyes glazed over with a combination of liquor and unshed tears, Carrie bit her lip.

"Out of respect to your wishes, just nod if I'm right. The pendant in the window?"

Getting a nod, Yevgeny shifted closer to her still. Held her hand tighter as she sipped some more bourbon.

"I wanted to give him a star. I fucking drew one on the wall in magic marker knowing that's the only way he'd get one," Carrie recalled, smiling softly in spite of herself.

"And it wasn't just because he earned it. Because he pointed to one at the cabin that first..."

Voice breaking she shook her head, squeezed her eyes shut against tears.

"I wanted something that I could show Frannie. Something she could see. I could take her to that wall when she was older, so she'd know. It's how I told myself I'd tell her about him, about her dad. About everything..."

Curling in on herself more, her whole body fighting back a sob now, Yevgeny moved to join her in the chair. Taking the Maker's from her he set the bottle on the rug. Curled himself around her as she broke down in his arms.

"And I can't tell her _anything_ now! I...I can't see her. I can't ever...see her-"

"Shhh, shhh," Yevgeny soothed, rubbing Carrie's back.

As painful as it was seeing her in this much pain, a part of him was still relieved to see it. That she hadn't walled herself off from all the hurt and loss and outright bullshit she'd endured, and that she trusted him enough to be with her on the rare days her walls and defenses were down. Like this rare day that he realized had been building up in her for weeks.

"She's my fucking kid and it's Christmas. I...I just want to know where she is! See that she's alright and I...I'm not even allowed to..."

When her voice broke, trailed off completely, Yevgeny shook his head. Continued holding her as a stubborn gleam filled his eyes. He was far from thrilled at 'not allowed' being applied to him or Carrie, but looked forward to finding a creative way around it. For both their sakes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for all the lovely feedback and reviewage! Glad this is being enjoyed! Part three to come soon. :)

Rolling over in bed, finding the other side of it empty Carrie frowned. 

Sitting up, when her head swam and her stomach rolled she glanced at the half drained Maker's bottle on the floor. Recognized it as the source of her pain.

"Well. You're finally awake."

Approaching the bed, Yevgeny handed her two aspirin and a glass of water.

"What time is it?"

"Why does it matter? You needed to rest. You rested."

"That's not the answer I was looking for," Carrie grumbled, moving to get out of bed.

"Wait! Stay there. Just for a moment," Yevgeny requested, ducking out of the room as her frown deepened.

"Yevgeny, what the-"

"One moment!"

Wanting to go after him but sure that sudden movements wouldn't benefit her right now, Carrie rolled her eyes. Slumped back into the bed pillows before Yevgeny walked back in the room.

"Now, what were you trying to tell me?" he asked, setting the large ribbon-wrapped box he was holding on the foot of the bed.

"That straight bourbon still tastes like gasoline," Carrie muttered. "What's that?"

"Alright, be mindful that since I am not giving this to you on Christmas, technically I am still honoring our agreement," Yevgeny said, pushing the box in her direction.

"Technically you're on thin fucking ice," Carrie said with a scowl, but reached for the box in spite of herself.

Sliding the ribbon off, she opened the box to reveal a brand new laptop.

"My computer's working fine, last I checked."

"I agree," Yevgeny said as she frowned. "I checked it this morning and it is in good condition. But this model will work better for what I have in mind."

"We getting into gaming or something?"

Rolling his eyes Yevgeny moved to sit beside her on the bed. Opening the laptop he powered it on, then plugged a flash drive into the USB port.

"This is air gapped. It is virtually untraceable. Once purchasing it, I brought it to a friend of mine who made some modifications. Additions."

"What kinds of additions?" Carrie asked warily. Sitting up, she watched as Yevgeny keyed in a passcode, then some more code to open up a popup window. One that made the LED light on top of the screen glow blue. As soon as it did Yevgeny slid a protective cover over the camera, getting Carrie frowning.

"Before you ask, we are not going to start vlogging or sharing stories, and I will never consent to anything that happens in this bed being filmed," Yevgeny said dryly, getting a small smile.

"So what exactly are we doing?"

When he entered another command, enlarging the popup screen, Carrie's jaw dropped as a pixelated image began to load.

"What the...Jesus. That...that's not-"

"You would know better than me," Yevgeny said with a shrug. "It is 1AM though. This early, there is likely not much to see there yet."

"Holy fuck, Yevgeny," Carrie breathed, shaking her head in disbelief. She knew she should feel guilty, disgusted even, that she was seeing anything at all. She knew she shouldn't condone the invasion of privacy, that she should shut the feed down and forget it existed. Too bad she couldn't bring herself to tear her eyes away from the screen and the sight of her sister's living room.

"I know that it is not the same as seeing Frannie. But given the way you first got to know her father, I thought that-"

"Oh my God."

Shaking her head Carrie clasped her hand over her mouth, blinked back tears as the Christmas tree in the corner, the view of the fireplace across from Maggie's desk fully came into focus. Once seeing the clear picture though she snapped out of her daze, looked at Yevgeny in alarm.

"How secure is it?"

"Highly secure. The air-gapping should prevent anything being traced back to-"

"Traced back to us? You think I give a shit about that?" Carrie snorted as Yevgeny's eyes narrowed.

"Yes! Given your 'rap sheet'. My stature, I expected you would give a-"

"Can anyone else access this feed but us?" she asked urgently.

"Please, Yevgeny. If there's any chance, any risk to them at all with this set up-"

"Nothing is guaranteed," Yevgeny said softly. "But, I highly doubt anyone else would have the motivation or the inclination to attempt the equivalent here. Certainly no one that I know. No one in the circles I travel with."

"What about your friend? The one who helped install-"

"Ivan simply loaded the software and provided me with instruction. He has no involvement, no knowledge beyond that. That I can guarantee."

"Okay, I...okay."

When she let out a slow breath, fresh tears filling her eyes, Carrie turned back to the screen as Yevgeny slipped an arm around her. Kissed the side of her head.

"Is there any way that she, any of them can detect what..." Her voice breaking she swallowed hard, tried again.

"Can they figure out that we're watching?"

"I suppose that would depend on how tech savvy they are," Yevgeny shrugged.

"Do you know if your sister uses her laptop anywhere aside from home?"

"Knowing Maggie? If I had to guess it's charging on that desk 24-7," Carrie said knowingly.

"You are certain of-"

"She's had the same minivan since 2002. There's no way she'd trash the only PC with all the family photos."

Shaking her head she softly smiled, wiped at her eyes before using the touch pad on the laptop. Programming an alarm to go off at 6:00 PM, RU time on the 25th.

"Not at Christmas anyway."

...

Josie starts to notice the camera LED taking longer to go off on the laptop on the living room desk. Her mom is too busy to notice, and her dad works too much to give it much thought or notice. She notices it though, and one day a thought crosses her mind as to why it could be happening.

She knows her aunt, and her grandpa Frank for that matter, would tell her to follow that thought as far as she could. That she could trust her gut and how goddamn smart she was and go after the truth and answers however she had to.

Then there were her parents. Strong advocates for research and methodology and a patient and practical approach.

Josie decides to blend the best of both. Read that data breach article her dad was still going on about at the breakfast table. Reread the copy of _Tyranny of Secrets_ hidden in the back of Maggie's closet.

She looks up the time difference between Moscow and Falls Church, then sneaks downstairs at 2AM. The sight of the little blue LED both exhilarates and scares the shit out of her, but she sits down in the desk chair regardless. 

"Hey Aunt Carrie," she whispers in the dark. Smiling for the camera all the while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick little disclaimer: Not trying to condone/ indicate any understanding of hacking or data breaching by writing this installment. I’m a Luddite who can only add chapters here using Rich Text, so yeah.


End file.
